If I could put time in a capsule . . .

Thursday

A story by Steve Huffman this week got me thinking about that particularly 20th-century piece of nostalgia ó the time capsule.

Steve wrote a story about a Masonic time capsule opened at the former Graham High building, which the county is set to tear down.

When I was a child, there was a time capsule in the sidewalk outside the Cardinal movie theater, the main one I went to in Raleigh. That thing fascinated me.

What was in it? Who would open it? How would they get it out of the sidewalk? Would I be there when it was opened? The Internet tells me that itís scheduled to be opened in 2017. The theater is closed and the shopping center it was a part of has changed. Iím not sure whether the thing can still be accessed or not.

For the most part, I think, time capsules included letters, pictures and newspapers. Iíve always thought it would be a good idea to put the answer to some big secret inside, to jazz things up a little.

Steve was hoping gold bars would be inside the time capsule in Graham. Iím not sure why. Steve gets excitable that way.

Steveís disappointment, of course, made us think of television news reporter Geraldo Riveraís ill-fated trip into Al Caponeís vault in 1986.

Thereís a time capsule outside Burlingtonís city hall set to be opened 80 years from yesterday, Feb. 14, 2093. I just hope that mankindís robot overlords will let them open the thing up.

When I was growing up, a lot of kids put together time capsules with pictures, baseball cards and mash notes to the girls they couldnít get up the nerve to talk to and buried them in their backyards, often without bothering to write down where they buried them.

My favorites are the time capsules of sorts that the United States launched into space aboard Voyager 1 and 2 ó golden records that document the sounds of life on Earth.

Does anyone bother with new time capsules anymore? If we put together one now, what would we put in it?

The idea, I guess, is to give our descendants an idea of what life was like in 2013. Iíd also think we could include some questions for those who open the time capsule up. Did we ever get flying cars? Did they open those Kennedy assassination files? Did global warming continue? Who are the judges on ďAmerican IdolĒ these days?

I would definitely put a smart phone in there. It seems many of us (myself included, I admit) walk around with our noses stuck to one of them.

Both paper money and coins. There may soon be a day when we only use financial cards for transactions.

Compact discs. The next phase of the recorded music progression that began with vinyl will likely be for all music to be on drives, not on disc anymore.

A pink slip. In 2013, many of us have gotten one of these over the last five years.

Lots of photographs. People. City streets. One of my favorite pastimes is looking at photos showing life in the United States decades ago.

Cigarettes. Those may become a thing of the past as well.

A newspaper, of course. This might be quite the curiosity for those who open the capsule, especially if we bury it for 50 years or more.

Seal it tight and put it in the ground. And someone remember to write down where we buried it.

City editor Brent Lancaster can be reached at blancaster@thetimesnews.com or 336-506-3040. Read his blog at www.thetimesnews.com/news/blogs/brent-s-blog.

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